Ravindra Jadeja blasted 175 coming into bat at No.7 as India consolidated their hold against Sri Lanka on day 2 of the Mohali Test.
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For Ravindra Jadeja, Shane Warne holds a special place in his heart. It was in 2008 that Warne spotted something special in Ravindra Jadeja. He labeled him the ‘Rockstar’ during the duo’s tenure with Rajasthan Royals in the 2008 edition of the IPL. Warne had a penchant of noticing something special in players. On Saturday, when the whole world was mourning the sudden death of Shane Warne, Ravindra Jadeja played a record-defining knock to put India on top on day 2 of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali.
Ravindra Jadeja smashed an unbeaten 175 which included 17 fours and three sixes. He shared a partnership of 104 with Rishabh Pant on day 1 and continued his great work. Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin shared a stand of 130 for the seventh wicket. Mohammed Shami then joined the fun and he shared a partnership of 103 to help Jadeja create history.
Ravindra Jadeja became the first individual while batting at No.7 to share three century partnerships in Test cricket. He became the fifth Indian player to achieve this feat, joining Vinod Kambli, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, and Karun Nair. While all those batters were top-order players, Jadeja bats in the lower-middle order.
| Player | Score | Opponent | Venue | Year | Partnerships |
| Vinod Kambli | 227 | Zimbabwe | Delhi | 1993 | 107 (Navjot Singh Sidhu), 137 (Sachin Tendulkar), 107 (Mohammad Azharuddin) |
| Rahul Dravid | 270 | Pakistan | Rawalpindi | 2004 | 129 (Parthiv Patel), 131 (VVS Laxman), 131 (Sourav Ganguly) |
| Virender Sehwag | 173 | Pakistan | Mohali | 2005 | 113 (Gautam Gambhir), 103 (Rahul Dravid), 118 (Sachin Tendulkar) |
| Karun Nair | 303* | England | Chennai | 2016 | 161 (KL Rahul), 181 (R Ashwin), 138 (Ravindra Jadeja) |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 175* | Sri Lanka | Mohali | 2022 | 104 (Rishabh Pant), 130 (R Ashwin), 103* (Mohammed Shami) |
The knock of 175* was Jadeja’s second century in Test cricket. However, that knock was also significant. Jadeja’s knock is the highest by an Indian player in Test history while batting at No.7. He went past Kapil Dev’s 163 which he achieved against Sri Lanka in Kanpur in 1986. Only three players in India’s Test history have scored 150 while batting at No.7. Rishabh Pant had blasted 159 against Australia in Sydney in 2019 which itself was historic.
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If one looks at the overall number, then Sir Don Bradman leads the list with an unbeaten 270. In the 1937 Melbourne Test against England, Bradman had flipped the batting order to combat the tough conditions. He scored 270 while coming to bat at No.7. He shared a partnership of 346 for the sixth wicket with Jack Fingleton as Australia scripted one of the greatest come-from-behind wins in Test history.
Overall, Jadeja is 7th on the list, with only Bradman, Denis Atkinson, Adam Gilchrist, Jack Ryder, Brendon McCullum, and Denis Lindsay ahead of him. Here is the list of highest individual scores in Test cricket while batting at No.7.
| Player | Score | Opponent | Venue | Year | Fours | Sixes |
| Sir Don Bradman | 270* | England | Melbourne | 1937 | 22 | 0 |
| Denis Atkinson | 219 | Australia | Barbados | 1955 | 29 | 1 |
| Adam Gilchrist | 204* | South Africa | Johannesburg | 2002 | 19 | 8 |
| Jack Ryder | 201* | England | Adelaide | 1925 | 12 | 1 |
| Brendon McCullum | 185 | Bangladesh | Hamilton | 2010 | 17 | 3 |
| Denis Lindsay | 182 | Australia | Johannesburg | 1966 | 25 | 5 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 175* | Sri Lanka | Mohali | 2022 | 17 | 3 |
Day 2 belonged completely to Ravindra Jadeja. He got to his fifty in just the second over of the day as Sri Lanka struggled. The boundaries kept coming, with Ashwin also notching up yet another fifty. The partnership between Ashwin and Jadeja was the highest for India for the seventh wicket in Tests against Sri Lanka.
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When Ashwin fell, Jadeja notched up his century and he celebrated it in grand style. After getting to the landmark, he opened up with two fours off Vishwa Fernando. He neared his 150 with two fours and a six off Lasith Embuldeniya. Jadeja reached his 150 in superb fashion with a four and six off Dhananjaja de Silva as the runs kept leaking. Jadeja went past Kapil’s record and looked set for a glorious double hundred but Rohit Sharma declared on 574/8.
Sri Lanka started well with Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne looking steady. However, the introduction of Ashwin saw problems for Thirimanne who was all at sea against him. The left-hander was trapped plumb in front for 17. Jadeja, who had bloodied Sri Lanka to the ground, then got the vital wicket of Karunaratne for 22 as he walked too far across his stumps. Pathum Nissanka and Angelo Mathews looked to take the attack to the Indian bowlers. However, the pressure was relentless. Jasprit Bumrah trapped Mathews LBW for 22. Ashwin, on the other hand, overtook Sir Richard Hadlee’s tally of 431 Test wickets by dismissing Dhananjaya de Silva.
At stumps, Sri Lanka are 108/4 and they are already staring down the barrel. It will need something special for the visitors to help them save this match.
